April 24th, 2014 by Lyle Smith

LSI Nytro Flash Accelerator Cards SQL Server 2014 Ready

LSI has announced that its LSI Nytro flash accelerator cards have been tested to help improve and amplify the performance of SQL Server 2014. The LSI Nytro line of PCIe flash accelerators are specifically designed to deliver high performance, reduce latency and a lower CPU burden for the most resource-heavy database applications and I/O-intensive workloads. The development collaboration between LSI and Microsoft combine technologies to help businesses overcome I/O bottlenecks, accelerate SQL Server 2014 database transactions and extract the full value from data. The LSI Nytro flash cards are also being used in conjunction with the new SQL Server 2014 Buffer Pool Extension feature, which offers the low latency, high throughput, and the reliability needed to fully enable the benefits provided by BPE technology.

The Buffer Pool Extension (BPE) provides database administrators with the option to increase transaction performance by utilizing non-volatile, NAND flash-based storage to extend the buffer pool size. The BPE provides functions as a level two (L2) cache, with the main buffer pool functioning as a level one (L1) cache. SQL Server 2014 will automatically transfer workloads that consist primarily of frequently accessed reads to the (L2) cache as necessary.

Additionally, it’s very simple to specify the location and size of the file for the BPE feature, using just a simple alter server configuration command. Nytro flash cards help accelerate SQL Server 2014 workloads by placing this file on the Nytro card, which improves transaction performance for read-intensive workloads when database working sets no longer fit into the main buffer pool (L1) cache.

Availability

The LSI Nytro flash cards are available from select LSI original equipment manufacturers as well as through the LSI worldwide network of distributors, integrators and VARs.